Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe now run Mercedes, taking control of the commercial and technical sides respectively, but Wolff said the team would notice Brawn's absence when the pressure is on.

"Of course there is always an impact when someone like Ross leaves," Wolff said. "He was an iconic leader and I think you are going to see he is missing once it gets stressful at race weekends. His leadership and kindness was something that was extraordinary.

"Of course it's been felt that he's gone, but we are a large organisation with a couple of hundred really good people and this is why we are trying to saddle it up."